Still Life

Firefighters battled a controlled blaze on the tarmac at Penn State's University Park Airport on May 23 during a full-scale emergency exercise. The exercise was designed to provide real-time training and recertification for emergency response personnel from around the Centre Region.

University Park Airport Emergency Response Exercise

A moment of levity: Penn State Lehigh Valley graduates celebrated with the Nittany Lion after commencement ceremonies, held May 5 at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.

Commencement across Penn State: Spring 2012

New graduates of Penn State's Eberly College of Science listened to the commencement address provided by United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during spring 2012 graduation ceremonies held May 5 at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus.

Spring commencement 2012 under way

A Moroccan farmer taught Penn State students about the properties of vetiver grass, including its ability to clean wastewater. The grass could be used as part of a solution to water-quality problems being experienced in Assoul, Morocco, where students spent time recently.

Penn State, Moroccan students problem-solve together

Anjelica Fortunato, left, and Jeffrey Lu reviewed for their Anatomy 129 final exam on May 1 on the HUB-Robeson Center Lawn on Penn State's University Park campus. Penn State students are preparing for and taking final exams throughout the week as spring semester 2012 comes to a close.

Finals Week Spring Semester 2012

Featured Video

Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium

Painting the Lines at Beaver Stadium

Did They Get It Right? - RedTails

Did They Get It Right? - RedTails

Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012

Iconic Penn State elm taken down over spring break 2012

We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)

We ... are Penn State (December 19, 2011)

Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal

Disease stricken matching elm tree slated for removal

Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone

Penn State's creamery, from the cow to the cone

Updates:
Penn State Promise

Board of Trustees launches new website

Faculty Senate recaps 2011-12 activity for Board of Trustees

Frazier provides update on Special Investigations Task Force

Board of Trustees meeting to be streamed live

Penn State donates more than $2.6 million to abuse prevention efforts

Morrill ActMorrill Act Feed

Scholars debate future role of land-grant universities at Penn State

Friday, June 24, 2011

Five major issues are challenging America's land-grant universities, according to Penn State President Graham Spanier and echoed by conference leaders and presenters at The Legacy and the Promise: 150 Years of Land-Grant Universities, which concluded June 24 at Penn State. As land-grant institutions review their collective history to prepare for the 150th anniversary in 2012 of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, they also address questions of weakening state support as well as varying interpretations of the land-grant mission. (more)

Higher education historian examines Penn State's land-grant tradition

Monday, June 20, 2011

On May 13, 2011, Roger Geiger, distinguished professor of higher education at Penn State, spoke about the University's history as a land-grant institution at the initiation and awards ceremony of Penn State's Phi Beta Kappa chapter, Lambda of Pennsylvania. Following is a transcript of his talk. (more)

Conference reviews history, impact, future of land-grant universities

An excerpt from the Morrill Act is inscribed atop the portico of Old Main, just below the bell tower.
Monday, June 20, 2011

American land-grant colleges and universities -- beneficiaries of the federal Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862 -- are turning their attention to the transformational legislation as its 150th anniversary approaches in 2012. Penn State is initiating the conversation June 22-24 by hosting a national conference focused on land-grant universities' history and impact. (more)

Background information about the Morrill Act

This image honoring Abraham Lincoln and the promise of higher education appears on the north panel in the lobby of Old Main on the University Park campus as part of the historic frescoes painted by Henry Varnum Poor.
Monday, March 15, 2004

The importance of the land grant colleges cannot be exaggerated. Although originally started as agricultural and technical schools, many of them grew, with additional state aid, into large public universities which over the years have educated millions of American citizens who otherwise might not have been able to afford college. (more)